John Karinen, Class of ’58, is a research oceanographer for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Auke Bay Laboratories. He researches Alaska’s fish stocks, fish habitats, and the chemistry of marine environments.

Karinen did part-time work and collected data for the Dingell Johnson Reports for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks while attending BHSU from 1953 to 1958. He went on to work at the U.S. Army Medical Research Laboratory-Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver and was a research associate at Oregon State University.

Karinen has been program leader and program manager for various projects at Auke Bay Labs and was the task leader for work following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Karinen is a member of many organizations dedicated to his work including:American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, and the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.